


Sharing is Caring

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-01
Updated: 2020-01-01
Packaged: 2021-02-27 05:22:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,450
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22071733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: Zack has a cold, and it spreads to the rest of the band.
Kudos: 3





	Sharing is Caring

Whenever one of the guys in All Time Low came down with something, the other three always wondered who’d be the next person to catch it. They were currently about halfway through a tour, and Zack had come down with a bad cold. Since he was so healthy, he never got extremely sick, but it was still an inconvenience to him as a touring musician. Unlike some of his bandmates, he preferred to keep to himself when he was under the weather.   
He wasn’t big on being taken care of like some of, he liked to just stay in his bunk and just push through whatever he had. This did help sickness to not spread, but since the bus was such a small space, some spreading was inevitable. This time, Alex was the unlucky one, coming down with a worse version of what Zack had. When Alex woke up on Zack’s second day of being sick, he felt absolutely miserable and very flu-like.   
He wanted to stay in bed, but he liked to be taken care of, so he forced himself up to find Rian and Jack. To combat his intense chills, he wrapped one of his blankets around himself, then made his way out to the front lounge. Jack and Rian were sitting on the couch, so Alex sat down between them and put his head onto Jack’s shoulder before bursting into a coughing fit. Rian and Jack both helped Alex sit up and rubbed his back until he was okay again.  
“You don’t sound good,” Rian stated.  
“I don’t feel good, either,” Alex replied in a raspy voice.  
“Only you would catch Zack’s cold, even though he’s stayed in his bunk ever since he got sick,” Jack said, laughing some.  
“I feel like I have something worse than a cold. I feel flu like,” Alex replied. Rian quickly got up and sat on the other side of the room.  
“Fuck you, too,” Alex said with a sneeze.  
“Look, half of our band is sick now, I’m not trying to catch whatever it is you have. It’d be a total shitshow if we all had to perform while under the weather. Jack, you should keep your distance, too,” Rian stated. Jack looked down at Alex and saw how miserable he looked.  
“No, I want to help Alex. He’s going to need more care than Zack, he’s sicker,” Jack replied.  
“Okay, but don’t come to me when you’re looking like Alex in a couple of days,” Rian stated.  
“I’ll be fine. Do you want to go to the back, Alex? Maybe you can try to rest up some for the show tonight,” Jack suggested.  
“Sure,” Alex replied.   
“Go on back there, and I’m going to get some things then meet you there,” Jack instructed. Alex started walking, but when he got to the bunks, he had another loud coughing fit, making him stop for a minute. The noise Alex was making woke Zack up. He rolled over and opened his bunk curtain to see Alex doubled over in the tiny hallway.  
“Alex, are you alright?” Zack asked when Alex finally stopped.   
“I’m a bit under the weather,” Alex admitted.  
“I’m sorry that I got you sick, but I don’t know how I did, I’ve stayed in my bunk to avoid this,” Zack replied with a cough.  
“Shit happens. I think I got something worse, though. Have you felt flu like?” Alex asked.  
“No, just congested and tired. I haven’t had aches or chills or anything like that,” Zack explained.  
“I think I have the flu, so maybe this isn’t really your fault,” Alex replied.  
“I’m still sorry you aren’t feeling great,” Zack sympathized.  
“I’m going to rest up in the back for a bit. Feel better, man,” Alex said.  
“You too, Alex,” Zack replied, closing his bunk curtain. Alex grabbed a pillow and blanket from his bed, then set himself up in the back lounge. Seconds later, Jack walked into the back, holding medicine and two cups of water.  
“Okay, I brought out some cold and flu medicine, and water. Just one question, you don’t feel sick to your stomach, right?” Jack cautiously asked.  
“Thankfully, no. That’s, like, the only symptom I don’t have,” Alex replied with a sneeze.  
“Well, I’m relieved to hear that. Rian told me that we’re going to be at the venue in about two hours, so that should be enough time for a movie and a nap for you,” Jack explained.  
“Both of those things sound great. I really can’t remember the last time I felt this bad,” Alex replied, hugging himself.  
“Are you cold?” Jack asked, to which Alex just nodded. Jack quickly turned on the TV, then sat on the couch with Alex, pulling him into a hug to try to warm him up some.  
“Thanks, Jack. Hey, I don’t want you to catch this since you’re so close to me,” Alex said, sounding worried.  
“Don’t worry about me, my immune system actually works,” Jack joked.  
“Fuck you. But seriously, I don’t want to get you sick. I think Rian would quit the band if that happened,” Alex said with a little laugh.  
“Dude, fuck Rian, I’ll be fine. He can chill out,” Jack replied.  
“I heard that!” Rian called from the bunk area, making Alex and Jack laugh even more. Eventually, Alex’s laughs turned into a harsh coughing fit, and Jack helped him sit up so he could calm himself.  
“Man, I can’t even laugh, this fucking blows,” Alex stated, his voice raspier from the coughing.  
“That really sucks, dude. Why don’t you try to sleep some? Then, you can rest your voice and hopefully feel a bit better for the show tonight,” Jack suggested.  
“Good point. Are you going to stay here with me?” Alex asked, making Jack’s heart hurt some. He hated to see his friend who was normally so full of energy and positivity in such a weak, vulnerable state.  
“If that’s what you want, I’d be more than happy to. Now, get some rest, man,” Jack replied. Alex got as comfortable as he could, and quickly drifted off to sleep.  
\--------------------  
“Alex, wake up dude,” Jack said, shaking Alex awake.  
“What is it?” Alex asked.  
“We’re at the venue. We’re going to do a short soundcheck, then you and Zack are going to come back here and rest until it’s showtime,” Jack explained.  
“Oh okay, are you going to rest with me after?” Alex asked.  
“I’m going to try. Rian was being a dick earlier, saying that I’ll get sick from you, but I think I’ll be okay. How’re you feeling?” Jack asked, changing the subject.  
“About the same as earlier, I guess. I already know you’re going to say it, but we’re not cutting the set short. I feel terrible now, and I don’t want to feel sick and guilty later,” Alex explained.   
“Whatever you think is best, man. Let’s go soundcheck so you can go back to resting,” Jack suggested. He helped Alex up, then walked to the venue with him. Rian and Zack were already there, warming up a bit.  
“How’re you feeling, Alex?” Rian asked as Alex and Zack put on their guitars.  
“About the same, really flu like,” Alex replied with a cough.  
“Sorry to hear that, man,” Zack replied.  
“Let’s get this over with so both of you can get some more rest,” Rian suggested as they started into their soundcheck. Instead of doing their usual forty-minute soundcheck, they cut it in half, making it only twenty minutes.   
Alex coughed quite a bit throughout it, which made his throat hurt even more. By the time they were done, Alex was holding his throat due to the pain.  
“Alex, are you sure you can do a full set? That was only twenty minutes, and it seems like it was almost too much for you,” Jack observed.  
“I’ll be okay,” Alex insisted.  
“Here we go again. Alex, you always say we should do the whole set, but then it just hurts your throat, and makes you getting better take longer,” Rian replied.  
“He’s got a point,” Zack said with a sneeze.  
“He does, but I refuse to be the reason we cut it short. If it doesn’t go well tonight, we can cut some tomorrow night, but I want to try it first,” Alex explained.  
“Okay man, we’ll do that,” Jack decided.  
“You two should go rest up on the bus,” Rian said to Alex and Zack.  
“Are you going to come with me, Jack?” Alex asked. As Jack was going to answer, he saw a look of disapproval on Rian’s face.  
“You two go on back, I’ll be there in a minute,” Jack replied. Alex and Zack put away their instruments and walked back over to the bus. Jack walked over to Rian’s drum kit.   
“Jack, we can’t afford to have another sick band member. I know you know that,” Rian stated.  
“I know, but I don’t want to just leave him,” Jack replied.   
“Jack, he’s an adult, he can handle himself. Hell, Zack’s been doing fine with this for the last two days,” Rian insisted.  
“Alex is a lot worse, and we both know he can’t take care of himself very well when he’s sick. Rian, I’ll be fine,” Jack insisted.  
“I’m not going to tell you what to do, but if you get sick, too, we might have to cancel shows, there’s no way we could put on a good show while three of us are sick. I don’t even know if tonight will go well with the two of them under the weather. But, I know that Alex likes to be taken care of, and I guess if that’ll help him, then so be it. Just be careful,” Rian stated.  
“I will. I’m going to the bus, I’ll make sure that both of them are ready by showtime,” Jack said before walking back to the bus. As soon as he got on, he heard Alex coughing from the back lounge. He quickly made his friend some hot tea, got him some cough medicine, and a thermometer. Once everything was ready, he walked to the back lounge to see Alex under his blanket again, shivering.  
“Hey, how’re you doing?” Jack asked, setting everything down on a side table as he sat with Alex on the couch.  
“Not great, my throat really hurts from coughing so much,” Alex said, blowing his nose.  
“Well, I made you some tea to hopefully help with that and found some cough medicine. But, before that stuff, let’s take your temperature,” Jack said, handing Alex the thermometer.  
“What’s it say?” Alex aside, giving the device to Jack when it beeped.  
“100.2, so it could be worse, but it’s still not good. Here, take this and drink the tea,” Jack said, handing Alex the other things he’d brought out.  
“Thanks for doing so much for me, I really do appreciate it,” Alex said as he sipped his tea.  
“Of course, dude. You seem pretty miserable, I’m not just going to leave you to suffer on your own,” Jack replied, making them both smile some. Over the next few hours, Jack stayed with Alex in the back lounge, only getting up to get him more tea and medicine when he needed it.   
Once it was close to showtime, Jack helped Alex get stage ready, then did the same for Zack. The three of them walked into the venue, and saw Rian talking to one of their crew members.  
“There you guys are! How’re you two feeling?” Rian asked Alex and Zack.  
“Better than our last show,” Zack replied.  
“Really terrible,” Alex stated, coughing some.  
“Alex, we can still cut the set some,” Rian brought up.  
“No, we’re doing a full show. I’ll be alright,” Alex replied.  
“It’s time, you guys!” a crew member stated. The four of them walked onstage, and immediately started into their set. Considering how sick Alex was, the show went okay. Alex’s voice started to get worn down not too far into their set, but he did what he could. By the end of the show, his throat hurt quite a bit from all of the singing and constant coughing he’d done.  
“Alex, are you okay?” Jack asked once they’d walked offstage for the night.  
“My throat kills,” Alex rasped out, breaking into another coughing fit.  
“Let’s get you to the bus. I’ll make you more tea, then you can get some sleep,” Jack suggested. Alex just gave a thumbs up in agreement.   
“I’m going to go back now, too. I just want to sleep off this cold,” Zack added.  
“Me too. We have an early bus call tonight, anyway,” Rian said. The four of them walked back to the bus and changed into comfier clothes. Rian decided to watch TV in the front lounge, still insisting that he refused to get sick. Zack went right to his bunk, and Alex went to his spot in the back lounge. Jack got Alex more tea and medicine before joining his friend in the back lounge.  
“Thanks for this, Jack,” Alex quietly said, taking the medicine.   
“No problem. Do you want to sleep back here? We can fall asleep to a movie,” Jack suggested.  
“You’d sleep back here with me?” Alex asked.  
“Yeah, I know you’d prefer that, and it’ll probably help you sleep better, and you need lots of sleep right now,” Jack explained.  
“Well, you’re not wrong there,” Alex replied. Once Alex was finished with his tea, Jack turned out the lights and let Alex snuggle into him as he did some channel surfing. Alex fell asleep within minutes, to Jack’s relief.   
He knew that he’d most likely get sick by the end of this, but he didn’t care. He always thought that Alex begin well mattered the most, since he had to sing. If all this helped Alex, it was worth it to Jack.  
\---------------  
Over the next two days, Zack improved significantly. He still had a lingering cough and didn’t have all of his energy back yet, but he could function again. Alex, on the other hand, didn’t have much improvement, his symptoms were fairly consistent.   
Rian and Jack convinced him to shorten the set some, finally deciding it would be for the best. Jack was glad that Alex agreed, since it would be a lot for his voice to do a full show. Jack was also glad, because he’d started to feel a bit off, which he’d expected. He wasn’t as bad as Alex yet, he felt a bit achy and worn down, and he hoped that he wouldn’t get as sick as Alex was.   
Unfortunately, when he woke up the morning after their last show, he realized that he’d hoped too high. He had all of the same symptoms that Alex had, but felt nauseous on top of it. He woke up in the back lounge, with Alex still snuggled into him. He knew he needed medicine, so he carefully got Alex off of him, and made his way to the front lounge.   
Rian and Zack were already out there, Rian was eating breakfast, and Zack was drinking some hot tea. Jack knew that he shouldn’t hide what was going on from his friends, but he figured that he didn’t necessarily have to tell them yet, they could figure it out for themselves.  
“Hey Jack, is Alex awake yet?” Zack asked. Jack got a smell of Rian’s food, which made his stomach churn even more.  
“Um, no, he’s-“ Jack started. He got to the point where he couldn’t tolerate the smell anymore and started to gag.  
“Oh shit, are you okay, Jack?” Rian asked. Jack shook his head as he continued to feel sick to his stomach and ran into the bus bathroom to puke.   
Back in the lounge Alex woke up and was confused as to why Jack wasn’t with him. He decided to get up and find him, so he slowly stood from the couch and walked to the front of the bus.  
“Where’s Jack?” Alex asked his friends in a raspy voice. Before either of them could reply, the three of them heard Jack in the bathroom as he continued to get sick.  
“There’s your answer,” Zack replied.  
“Oh shit,” Alex mumbled to himself. Alex sat on the couch opposite his friends, and played with the ends of his blanket, feeling guilty about getting Jack sick. After a few minutes, Jack walked out of the bathroom, holing his stomach and looking pale.  
“Are you alright?” Alex asked, guilt clear in his voice.  
“I’ve been better,” Jack replied, taking a seat with his friend.  
“I’m sorry I got you sick, dude,” Alex said with a sneeze.   
“It’s okay, don’t get all worried about it,” Jack replied. Rian walked over to Jack and felt his forehead.  
“You feel pretty warm. What’re your symptoms?” Rian asked.  
“The same as Alex’s, sore throat, aches, chills, totally worn out, but with nausea to make things even shittier,” Jack replied, coughing some.  
“I think we should cancel the show tonight,” Rian said as he got medicine and water for Alex and Jack.  
“What? Why would we do that?” Jack asked.  
“Yeah, I’ll be okay!” Alex insisted.  
“Would you tow take a look at yourselves? Alex, your throat is still fucked up, and you sound the same, if not worse, than you did yesterday. Jack, I could almost see your point if you weren’t sick to your stomach. Throwing up mid concert just isn’t worth it,” Rian explained.  
“Yeah, we should just cancel so you two can really rest up. You guys are a lot sicker than I was,” Zack added.  
“I think they’re right, Alex,” Jack admitted.  
“I know, I just wish that they weren’t,” Alex replied.  
“Why don’t you two go to the back lounge to rest, Zack and I will deal with contacting the venue to cancel, and we will try to reschedule the show,” Rian offered.  
“Thanks for doing that. Does this mean your germophobe ass self is actually going to take care of us?” Alex asked.  
“I’m not going to do all of the shit that Jack did, because I still refuse to get sick from this, but I’ll do what I can,” Rian replied.  
“Good enough for us,” Jack stated. Alex and Jack slowly made their way to the back and collapsed into each other on the couch.  
“I’m really sorry I got you sick, Alex said with a sneeze.  
“Don’t apologize, I was expecting it. I’m just glad I was able to help you out some the past few days. That makes this all worth it to me,” Jack replied. The two of them got comfortable, then selected a movie to watch. They mostly stayed back there for the day, the only exception being Jack going to the bathroom to get sick occasionally.   
Rian did feel bad for his friends, so he actually did do quite a bit to take care of them as best he could throughout the day. He made Alex a lot of tea, and sat with Jack when he got sick, which both of them greatly appreciated.   
They only canceled the one show, and the fans were very understanding, to everyone’s relief. The next day, Alex’s throat and voice were doing a bit better, and Jack stopped having to throw up so often, so they played a full set. It wasn’t their best show, but they were glad that they could get through it, and glad that they could rely on each other.   
After the show, Rian noticed that he had a headache, and decided to try and sleep it off. When he woke up the next morning, it had gone from a little pain to an intense headache, body aches, chills, and congestion. He got up with his blanket and went to the back lounge, where the others were.  
“You motherfuckers,” Rian said, coughing as he sat down on the couch.  
“Oh shit, Rian got it,” Zack pointed out.  
“I did, and I feel awful,” Rian said back.  
“I know you’re suffering, but this is kind of funny,” Alex said, trying to suppress a laugh.  
“Yeah, since you tried so hard all for nothing,” Jack added. Rian just flipped them off in reply. They didn’t end up cancelling anymore shows, but they spent the next few days doing everything they could to help each other feel better.   
A few days later, they were all feeling back to normal again, and were all very excited for their first show where they were all well again. They gave it their all, and were glad to have each other as bandmates, and more importantly, as best friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, this is something I wrote up a couple months ago that I decided to post since I'm out of requests!! It ended up being super long, but I figured that you guys would be totally fine with that! Did everyone see ATL's socials, I wonder what it means! Anyway, please send requests in, it feels weird not having anything to have to write for you guys!! I hope you all liked this one, and that ATL announce what they're doing soon! Also, happy new year, I'm excited to keep sharing my work with you guys in 2020! Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
